<p>Yippee! Yes, paying the last bill for undergrad tuition an expenses IS a great feeling. It’s especially wonderful if the next step will be less costly for us parents. Our D took slightly longer to get her degree than we expected due to health issues but we are SO glad both got their degrees without any debt!</p>
<p>Not sure whether S will go on to grad school or not. His employer had and may still have a program that pays for grad school once he explores more about the terms and whether the program still exists and what he wants to get the degree in–MBA or engineering and how to make it all work out.</p>
<p>Speaking of grad school, has anyone else found that grad school admissions are like the wild west compared to undergrad? Of the 6 schools my D has applied to, only 2 publicize the number of apps they receive vs the number of openings they have in the program, or their average GPA and GRE scores. The rest simply state the minimum GPA and GRE score required to apply and the required pre-reqs. They go on to say that they have “more applicants than openings.” We really have zero idea where she stands in comparison to the other applicants, or even how many other applicants she is competing with. The application deadlines range from 12/1 to 2/1 to “rolling,” and she’ll hear sometime between February and April. Its nerve racking!</p>
<p>Lafalum84, actually your observation is exactly why our S decided to take a year off between undergrad and grad school. In his field, it’s the graduate school professor doing the research who decides if the applicant will work well with his/her team. So first of all, the student must research which schools and which professors are doing the work they’re most interested in, then they have to communicate personally with that professor and hopefully make a good impression. This was next to impossible for him to do while working on a senior project and thesis. I think the student’s skill set and LORs are most important in the grad school setting, while GPA’s and GRE scores must fall within an acceptable range of achievement </p>
<p>Good luck to your D, I can imagine the stress and don’t look forward to it!</p>
<p>Communicating with Professors etc. for most Master’s degrees this is not necessary. PhD is a horse of a different color. Agreed skill set, LOR, and EXPERIENCE, along with gpa and gre in range are most important. :-)</p>
<p>anxiousmom, you’re right for lots of masters, I was too vague, sorry. My reference was to geology, which has lots of subcategories (hydrology, mineralogy, geomorphology, etc. etc.) and different schools offer an MS in one or two, or a few, of those subcategories. An applicant must know precisely what area they want to focus on and what the professors in that school are investigating within the particular subcategories. While all geologists must know the basics, once you get past undergrad you have to specialize. And even masters degrees are primarily emphasizing research, whether they’re field programs or not.</p>
<p>I feel the same sense of relief as I have just written my last tuition check. My daughter will have to pay for her graduate school herself. My son who is three years older will begin graduate school next September and the $90,000 per year cost is his responsibility. It will be costly for both of them but they’ll be fine.</p>